Unyielding
by ByakuyaxRenji
Summary: Just a small piece focussing on Lin Bei Fong after episode 10. I've never been good at summaries.


Author's Note: I don't own Legend of Korra.

This is my first venture into this fandom and the first time writing a piece of fanfiction for it. I enjoyed Korra for it's portrayal of a strong female lead but ultimately I found Lin to the most enduring and so my first piece of fanfiction is about her. I'm not sure if I have captured her well or not as I say this is the first time I have written anything for this and it's been a while since I last wrote a piece of fanfiction. I do hope that you enjoy it. Reviews are welcome as well as constructive feedback.

Thanks for reading.

* * *

"_Whatever happens to me, don't turn back."_

Those words, I was certain that they would be the last words I uttered to the man that had once held my heart but looking at his family, the last Airbenders I knew then that Tenzin and I had made the right decision; and with my mind firmly made to protect them at any cost I launched myself off Oogi and onto the Equalists airship determined to perhaps finally step out from my Mother's shadow.

It was short-lived, soon I felt the weight of the world bearing down on my shoulders once more as I felt my very essence being pulled from my body; the rain only adding to my unspoken misery as I fell silently to the ground finding no comfort in its embrace. Instead it felt hard and unbreakable.

Time passed of that I was certain, my clothes becoming damp and my metal uniform growing heavier with each passing minute but slowly and through gritted teeth I rose to my feet hating how blind I felt without the earth beneath me humming.

Ironic really considering that my Mother was once known as the Blind Bandit and had used her blindness as a strength and not a weakness but not even her insight could protect me from what that monster had done to me. Part of me was missing, part of my very soul seemed to have been taken from me but there was one thing that monster couldn't take from me and that was my legacy and that of my Mothers.

Slowly and with my movement limited due to my injuries sustained both aboard the airship and earlier when rescuing my men I began to move from the courtyard, getting back to Republic City was out of the question but finding somewhere safe to hide here was all that mattered before Amon or his Chi-blockers returned.

* * *

This place had once been my childhood playground and without my bending to help it would take all my past memories to guide me to a place of safety. But as I moved I felt as if I was being guided, a gentle breeze whipping up behind me and it was like Uncle Aang or Twinkletoes as my Mother preferred to call him was by my side.

Smiling despite my predicament I found the hidden entrance I had been looking for before I pulled back the stubborn block of earth and slipped inside the Temple.

How long I had rested I wasn't sure but something made me slip out from my hiding place to find that time had once again moved on without me. I heard the familiar sounds of Oogi and of the children who I had sworn to protect and the soft voice of the man that I had risked everything for once again and despite my weakened condition I moved towards those familiar sounds, grateful that they had survived; I could only hope with their bending intact.

The relief that washed over me was tenfold, knowing that the Last Airbenders could still freely feel and bend their element was a blessing but the news was instantly soured with the truth that the Avatar had lost her connection with three of the elements including her beloved water. I tried my best to offer what little comfort I could but truthfully I felt as lost as Korra did without my own connection to the earth.

* * *

All my hopes had been pinned on my Aunt Katara, if anyone could heal Korra it was the best healer in the world but just as my world had crumbled mere days before at the hands of Amon; it shattered just a little more when Katara announced there was nothing she could do. Korra fled the house soon after this had been announced and I just sank back into my seat, feeling more alone than I had in a long time.

Sleep would not come easily despite my best attempts the news that Avatar Aang had restored Korra's bending had been buzzing in my ears since the teenagers return to Katara's house but more so it was her promise to restore my own bending that kept me from my slumber. Slowly and in the hopes of not waking anyone I shifted from my makeshift bed and headed out of the room I currently shared with Asami and into the open planned room that served as a place to entertain guests before I slipped quietly from the house all together.

I should have known that my escape would be detected for Katara despite her age was always able to catch me sneaking out,

"She would be proud of what you did." her words in that moment gave me the comfort I had been missing since Amon took my bending and I did what no one had seen me do in quite some time, I openly wept in my Aunt's arms as she comforted me and drew small circles upon my back, treating me just like the child I had been back on Air Temple Island all those years ago when my Mother had passed away.

I took comfort in her words and thanked her once more for her kindness at allowing us all to descend upon her in these early days of course Katara thought nothing of it and was glad to have her family and extended family so close.

Together that extended family headed out to a small shrine of the earth kingdom, a place in the south pole that was surrounded by rocks; the only connection to my natural element out here in the harshness of the snow.

I knelt before the Avatar and closed my eyes as I felt her thumb upon my temple and on my chest and for a moment I forgot what it was like to breath as I felt the stirrings in the base of my spine as the ground beneath me began to hum once more. As Korra released my temple and allowed me to stand, I pulled the rocks around me off the ground in one swift movement holding them high for a minute before I allowed them to drop. With the tears glazing in my eyes I looked at Korra and smiled softly, "Thank you." I whispered knowing full well that she would hear me as she bowed toward me.

No longer was I blind to the earth around me, it's humming causing me to smile wider than I had in a long time. My connection with my Mother restored and the ground beneath me breakable once more.

"You did good kid." I swear it's just a whisper on the wind but still I can't help but think that she's with me, proudly standing beside me as I place my hands upon the ground and give myself a good old dusting of earth.


End file.
